2013 USBC Team USA Trials are just around the corner! The Tournament will be on January 2-7, 2013. The best bowlers in the country bowling on some of the toughest alleys that are bowled on around the world. Sounds like a blast to me! The competition will take place at Sunset Station Strike Zone in Henderson, Nevada.

The process for determining Team USA allows for the selection of the country's top professional bowlers while also granting the opportunity to any United States Bowling Congress member a chance to earn a spot. The team will consist of a minimum of 10 men and 10 women. Committees will select five men from past Team USA members with in the last 10 years or the PBA, and five women from a pool of Team USA members since 2003. Those that are not selected to be on Team USA 2013 will have their opportunity during Team Trials January 2-7th. The top 3 men and top 3 women will earn automatic spots on Team USA. Then the National Selection Committee will hand pick 2 men and 2 women to fulfill the 5 spots that will be earned at Team Trials. USBC Youth members may also participate in the Trials to earn spots for Team USA, but there are spots still up for grabs on Junior Team USA.

The lane conditions that are going to be used will be announced on January 2nd before practice begins. The patterns are going to be chosen from a bank of patterns created by the WTBA(World TenPin Bowling Association). The site you can go to is, www.worldtenpinbowling.com. From there, go under Rules and Publications and select Patterns. That will be your list of patterns that could be used at Team Trials. The shots range anywhere from 33ft to 47ft. So bring your A, B, and C Game to the trials because you will end up playing in spots you might not be used to. All the shots in the bank are sport compliant, so toughness is a guarantee.

Equipment is going to be vital. For those not fortunate to have more than say 2 bowling balls, you will be alright, because after each game they allow you to change the surface on the bowling ball. You just can not change the surface once you begin a game. In between games is fair game to altar your bowling ball how you want. I am looking at bringing the Storm Lucid, Storm Vivid, Storm Hy-Road, Storm Frantic, Storm Victory Road, and Storm Polar Ice. I am hoping that this gives me a solid line from early aggressive to mid aggressive and also my skid snap reactions. I may end up using my Polar Ice for the short patterns/spares since my rev rate gets me in trouble on shorter shots. Trust me I have been working on my suitcase game as well! Main point is, make sure you bring bowling balls that you know will go down a ladder from strongest to weakest. You can always altar the surface of the bowling ball in between games as well.

For those of you going to Team Trials, nothing but the best of luck to you! If you are not going but are still interested, tune-in on bowl.com Live Stream and watch the qualifying/finals January 3-7. Now that this is said and done, Time to go Practice!